Mighty Morphin Orange
by OrangeRangerAlex96
Summary: When Tommy makes a new friend in Alexa, he and the other Rangers do their best to befriend her. But everyone is keeping secrets, and that puts a strain on burgeoning friendships. Will the Rangers be able to unravel the mysteries of the withdrawn artist? Or will secrecy and betrayal deny them a new team mate?
1. The Singing Artist

**Hello, Everyone! Welcome to my newest story! This beauty has been a long time coming, something I'm rather disappointed about as I love it very much! I hope you all enjoy and that you will review!**

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Chapter One

The Singing Artist

Tommy Oliver was just leaving school to meet his friends at the Youth Center when he heard someone singing. It was a girl's voice, and he didn't recognize the song, so he decided to go investigate.

He approached the music room, where the sounds were coming from, quietly so as not to disturb the singer. She wasn't singing very loudly, so it was only then that he could clearly hear the words.

The song was sad, and seemed to speak of a person in great pain. He peered around the door to see a girl sitting by the window with a sketch pad on her lap, drawing while she sang.

Finally, the song ended and Tommy stepped forward into the doorway. "That was very nice." The girl started and dropped her pad and pencil box, scattering colored pencils across the floor. Apologizing quickly, Tommy moved forward to help gather the stray pencils.

He got distracted when he saw the drawings in the pad. "These are really good," he told her, picking up the pad and flipping through the drawings. At first, they were mostly pictures of flowers and buildings, then people began appearing and he saw several pages of just certain parts of people like ears, noses, eyes and hands. He had just flipped past a page filled with nothing but different kinds of mouths, when he froze. Staring up at him from the paper was the green Power Ranger. The Dragon Flute was raised to his lips, and the silhouette of the Dragon Zord could be seen lightly sketched in the background.

The pad suddenly disappeared from his hands, and he blinked up at the girl who'd snatched it away. "Sorry," he said quickly, standing up and adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. "Those are really good. Have you drawn any of the other Rangers?"

The girl shook her head. Tommy took a moment to study her. She had slightly wavy, jet black hair that hung down around her elbows like a curtain. Her skin was slightly olive toned, and she wore a black hoodie and jeans with worn-looking Converse high-tops. He couldn't see her face very well, because her hair was hanging around it, and she was deliberately hiding behind it.

He held out his hand to help her up, but she didn't take it. Instead, she stood easily and flipped the pad closed, hugging it to her chest. "My name's Tommy," he said gently. "What's yours?"

"Alexa." The reply was so quiet, he could barely hear her.

"Alexa," he repeated, smiling. "What a nice name. I'm sorry I made you drop your things. Listen, I'm meeting my friends at the Youth Center to hang out. Would you like to join us?"

"I don't know," she replied, only slightly louder than before.

"Please? To make up for scaring you."

Finally, she nodded slowly. Tommy smiled. "Great. Come on!" He couldn't wait for her to meet his friends.

The Youth Center was buzzing with kids engaged in various activities. Tommy spotted Billy sitting at a table doing homework, and headed in his direction. Alexa was following in his wake, clearly not comfortable with all the people.

Billy looked up as Tommy approached. "Hey, Tommy. Who's your friend?"

Tommy shifted to the side so Alexa was a bit more visible. "This is Alexa. Alexa, this is my friend Billy."

"Hi," she said quietly.

"Nice to meet you," Billy replied. "Tommy, the guys were looking for you. They were hoping we could all get in some sparing."

"Right," he turned to Alexa. "You mind hanging out here for a bit? We like to get in a bit of sparring before we do our homework."

Alexa shook her head. "I'll be alright." She sat down at Billy's table and pulled out her sketch pad. Tommy nodded and headed down to join the other guys on the mats for some sparing.

Billy watched Alexa surrepticiously while he worked. He could tell there was something up with her, but she was doing a pretty good job of hiding it. She just sat, glancing up at the action on the mats every few moments, and drawing in her sketch pad.

When Tommy finally came back, she quickly put the pad away. "I need to go," she said, standing quickly. "I shouldn't've stayed so long. My parents will be wondering where I am."

This time, Billy was certain something was wrong. The way she'd said 'my parents' sent up little red flags in his head.

"At least let us introduce ourselves," Jason said, approaching from the floor. "I'm Jason."

"Alexa," she said quietly. She was fidgeting, so Jason quickly moved to introduce the others.

"This is Zach," the dark-skinned, black-clad teenager waved, "Trini," the asian girl in yellow lifted her hand in greeting, "and Kimberly." The brown-haired girl in pink had just come from the balance beam and was now standing next to Tommy.

"Hey! It's nice to meet you," she said, smiling at Alexa.

"It's very nice to meet you all, but I really need to go." She turned to leave, but Tommy hurried after her.

"But you just got here. Can I at least walk you home?"

She shook her head quickly. "Thank you, but I have to go." She turned quickly and left before anyone could say anything else.

"That was weird," Zack commented before shrugging and turning to the bar to get something to drink.

"That was strange," Jason agreed, "but something seemed off."

"I agree," Billy confirmed. "She was acting a bit odd since she arrived."

"And what was with her leaving like that?" Trini asked.

"Something's not right," Tommy agreed.

"Let's invite her to sit with us at lunch tomorrow," Kim suggested.

"Great idea," Jason said. "Come on, we've all got work to do."


	2. Mysteries Abound

**Hello, Everyone! Thank you so much for all your amazing responses and reviews! It's really encouraging!**

 **I'm going to do my best to update this once a week. So far, goal achieved! I hope you all enjoy and continue reading!**

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Chapter Two

Mysteries Abound

They did try to invite Alexa to join them the next day. Unfortunately, none of them could find her. They noticed that she was in a class with at least one of them at all times, but when lunchtime came, she was nowhere to be found. She floated among them again after lunch, but none of them were able to talk to her.

Tommy was especially concerned. He'd sorta made the girl his personal project, and it bothered him that she was so alone all the time. No one talked to her, and she talked to no one. Even the teachers seemed to ignore her in that she was never called on to answer questions.

When school let out, Tommy watched Alexa gather her things from her locker across from his. As he watched, her shoulders became more and more tense until she was practically hunched in on herself. He turned to Kim when she came to put her own things away. "I'll meet you guys at Ernie's, alright?"

"Alright," she said, confused. She glanced along his line of sight to where Alexa was nearly ready to go. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to follow her home."

"What!?"

"Shh!" he placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to placate her. "I just want to make sure she's alright. Something's not right, and I'm going to find out what it is." Before Kim could protest further, he slipped away from her and followed Alexa out of school and through town.

The neighborhood she entered was full of picture-perfect houses behind perfect lawns. Alexa went up the driveway of number 203, then into the house. Tommy managed to sneak up the driveway and close to one of the front windows, but his hearing was limited to that room.

"Where were you yesterday?" a man's voice asked.

"I went to the Youth Center with some kids," Alexa replied. Her voice was so quiet that he could barely hear her.

"Did you get your homework done?"

"Yes."

"Good. The last thing we need is your grades slipping. How is your project coming?"

"I'm almost done."

"Good. Better get back to it, then." There was a rustling sound, like newspapers being shuffled, footsteps on stairs, then nothing.

Tommy snuck away from the house and hurried back down the street so he could meet his friends.

Kim was the first one to notice him when he entered the Youth Center. "Tommy!" she called, hurrying over to him. "How did it go? I still can't believe you did that."

"I didn't really learn anything. Her father asked where she was yesterday, asked about her homework and some project, and that was it. I don't know what I was expecting to learn."

"At least you tried," Trini added as the rest of the friends joined them.

"Yeah, but I'm sure there's something going on there," Tommy insisted. "I guess we'll just have to keep an eye on her."

"How about we ask her to join us at lunch tomorrow," Zach suggested. "If we can find her, that is."

"That's a great idea!" Tommy exclaimed with a smile. "You know what? She was with at least one of us in all of our classes. Whoever sees her last before lunch should try following her and finding out where she goes."

"That is an excellent idea," Billy agreed. Everyone nodded.

"It's settled, then," Jason added. "Tommy, let's spar. We can't do anything until tomorrow."

It turned out that Billy was the last one to see Alexa before lunch. The girl remained near the back of the room until nearly everyone else was out, which made it hard for Billy to easily follow her. Finally, just when he thought he'd have to pretend to talk to the teacher in order to have a good reason to stick around, Alexa left.

Billy followed at a discreet distance. When she entered the music room, he turned and headed for the cafeteria to find his friends.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Tommy asked aloud, frustrated with himself for not thinking of trying the music room the day before. He stood quickly. "Jason, Kim, you guys come with me. We'll bring her back with us."

The music room was quiet this time as the three Rangers approached. Tommy entered the room first to find Alexa sitting by the window just like last time. In the hopes of avoiding another pencil spillage, Tommy knocked on the doorframe. Alexa jumped a little, but she succeeded in keeping her supplies from scattering across the floor.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly, returning to her sketch pad.

"We were hoping you'd come eat lunch with us," Tommy said, entering the room with Jason and Kim following behind him.

"I'm not hungry."

Jason took a single step forward to emphasize his point. "You don't have to eat anything if you're not hungry. You can just sit with us."

"I like to be alone," she insisted. "No need to waste your time with me."

Tommy approached slowly. "Please, we just want to be your friends."

"I've heard that before," she snapped, her voice suddenly sharp. "You'll just try to use me for your own gain."

"No," Kim said quickly. "Honestly, what could we possibly want so much that we'd resort to something so devious?"

Alexa looked up at these words. For the first time, Tommy got a good look at her face. Her already sharp cheekbones stood out like knives in her thin face. Her hair, which glimmered faintly in the light from the window, was actually dull as it hung around her face. Her eyes were dull and nearly lifeless. Yet Tommy could see a tiny spark of something in those green eyes. Something that looked suspiciously like hope.

Jason extended his hand toward the girl. "Come on, just come sit with us." Slowly, Alexa reached out and took his hand.


	3. Flowered Friends

**Hello, Everyone! Thank you so much for all your amazing responses and reviews! It's really encouraging!**

 **I am going to the Renaissance Festival this weekend, so I probably won't be able to post a chapter on Saturday. I'll either forget, because I'm still riding my geek high, or I won't have time because I stayed too long getting my geek high. ;P So, here's the next chapter early! I'm already into working on Chapter Six, so things should continue moving along for a while unless I hit a snag.**

 **Also, this is not only a bit of a short chapter, but it's also the first chapter to take place during an episode! Enjoy!**

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Chapter Three

Flowered Friends

Alexa wasn't the easiest person to get to know. Despite her initial acceptance of their lunch invite, she seemed to be reluctant to get close to any of them. They did their best to include her, but with Rita attacking at least once a week, it had to look to her like they were avoiding her.

Tommy was especially frustrated about it. He wanted to know what was going on with this girl, and how to help her. But she continued to keep them at arm's length.

The only clue they got that she was starting to like them came when Billy found a picture in his locker. It was of all of them that first day at the Youth Center. Even he had been included, pictured off to the side doing his homework.

The six friends weren't sure how to handle Alexa's distance, but they were determined try harder as the Flower Power Peace Parade was announced. Kim was excited to enter a design for a float, so everyone pitched in to help. They invited Alexa, but she said that she had homework to do. So the Rangers gathered at the Youth Center to help Kim build the model of her float.

As usual, Rita decided to stick her ugly nose where it didn't belong. A group of Putties came down and smashed Kim's model. The pink Ranger was devastated. But Tommy had a plan to fix things. While the other Rangers took Kim out for lunch to make her feel better, he headed to Alexa's house to recruit her in his plan to fix Kim's float.

Tommy knocked on the door, which was opened by a man with short, brown hair, wearing glasses, jeans, and a button down shirt. "Yes? Who are you?"

"My name is Tommy, sir," he replied. "I'm a friend of Alexa's."

"What do you want?"

"I need to ask Alexa for her help."

The man frowned down at him, but stepped aside to let Tommy enter the house. "Alexa! You have a visitor."

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Alexa appeared not long after. "Tommy. What are you doing here?"

"I need your help. Kim's model got smashed and I'm trying to build a new one. You helped her draw the design, right?"

Alexa hesitated, glancing nervously at her father. "Yeah, uh… come on upstairs. I can get you the drawings if you want."

"That'd be great," Tommy replied, moving across the room to follow her up the stairs. "I could really use your help with building it too, if that's alright."

"I don't know if I can," she said as she led him up the stairs. "I have a lot that I'm working on."

"It's just for the afternoon!" he reminded her. "This really means a lot to Kim."

"Fine! I'll help you. But I have to be back this evening. I still have a lot of my own work to do."

Tommy nodded and followed her to the door of her room. "Stay here," she said. "Don't follow me in." Still wishing he knew what exactly was going on with her, Tommy took a step back from the door and let her slip through a crack without peeking into the room. She returned a short time later with a sketch pad. She flipped it open and handed it to him. "I'll meet you at the garage in a bit. I have a little bit to finish up here, but you might as well get started."

Tommy nodded and took the pad. He hesitated before going back down the stairs. "Alexa, if there's anything you need to talk about…"

"Everything's fine, Tommy," she said, her voice abrupt. "I'll see you at the garage."

Tommy nodded, reluctant to start something with his new friend. He went back downstairs, saying good bye to her father as he headed out the door. He went to Billy's garage, the place all the Rangers would go if they needed to build something. He was about half done fixing Kim's float when the call came from Zordon that the Rangers needed his help.

Alexa had yet to show up, so he left a note on the table letting her know that he'd be back as soon as possible and hurried off to help his friends.

After defeating the Spit Flower monster, Tommy hurried back to the garage. Alexa was already there, and had spent the time without him organizing the pieces that had yet to be returned to their proper places. "Hey!" Tommy greeted her as he entered. "Sorry I wasn't here, I had to step out for a sec. How long have you been here?"

"Not long," she replied quietly.

"Good. I'm glad you were able to come help. This will really mean a lot to Kim."

"Yeah, well I didn't do it for her," Alexa spoke so quietly, Tommy wasn't sure if she'd actually said what he thought she had. He decided to leave it alone for the moment, and the two of them got to work putting the remaining pieces together.

It didn't take long for them to finish the model float, and then they delivered it to the correct people just in time. About a week later, the parade was televised. Tommy managed to get Kim to the Youth Center to watch even though she really didn't want to. At Tommy's insistence, Alexa went as well, standing beside him as he and Kim sat with the others at the bar to watch the parade. Kim's float had actually won an award, and she was very happy to have seen it. "Tommy put it back together," Trini told her.

"I wasn't alone though!" Tommy said as Kim hugged him gratefully. "Alexa was a big help. I got the initial drawings from her, and she helped me put it back together!"

Kim stood and stepped around Tommy to give Alexa a big hug. "Thank you so much, Alexa! You're a real hero!"

Alexa smiled shyly. "I don't know about that."

"You really were!" Tommy insisted. "I wouldn't have been able to get it done so fast without your help!"

Alexa smiled a little wider. "Thanks. And, I think it's about time you all started calling me Alex."

Everyone smiled happily, and Zach patted her shoulder. "Alright then, Alex. Would you care for a smoothie? My treat!"

Alex nodded, smiling back. "I'd like that very much."


	4. Halloween Costume Caper

**Hello, Everyone! Remember what I said about getting distracted with the Festival? Yeah... Sorry I'm late. :(  
**

 **Anyway, as much fun as it would be to upload this on Halloween as that is the subject of the episode, I can't wait that long. Things start happening in this chapter. A few questions are finally answered, and a few more crop up. It's also pretty long! :)**

 **So, enjoy!**

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Chapter Four

Halloween Costume Caper

When Halloween arrived that year, the Rangers managed to recruit Alex to help with the decorations for the Masquerade Party at the Youth Center. She drew up the initial design ideas, which were quickly approved by Ernie. That was all she wanted to do, but Tommy convinced her to join them in the actual decorating process.

As usual, Bulk and Skull were making nuisances of themselves which ended with Bulk getting a bucket of paint thrown on his head. Tommy was happy to see Alex smiling at the funny scene. The shy girl seemed to be slowly coming out of her shell. At least around them. Tommy still frequently saw her tensing at the end of the school day and she had specifically asked them to not come over to her house.

The girls had been doing their best to get her out as much as possible by taking her shopping and inviting her join their activities at the Youth Center after school. Billy had become her study buddy, helping her out in the classes she was struggling in. Zach attempted to be her coolness coach. He was constantly giving her tips and being encouraging about her art and literally anything else she showed interest in. Tommy and Jason had appointed themselves as her bodyguards. Bulk and Skull liked to pick on her because she was so shy and insecure that she would never retaliate herself. So the red and green rangers did it for her.

Tommy was really proud of her for the progress she'd made, but he wished he knew what was holding her back from reaching her full potential. The most popular theory was that it had something to do with her parents and those mysterious 'projects' she was always having to do. Whatever the reason was, the Rangers had begun to notice that she was using the excuse less often.

Once the decorating was finished, the seven friends left to get into their costumes before the party. Alex's costume had been kept at Kimberly's house, so she went with the pink ranger to get changed. Kim had chosen to dress as a princess in a flowing pink dress with a tall, pointy hat. Alex had gone the complete opposite direction and was dressed as a vampire in all black. She had heavy eyeliner around her eyes and dark lipstick with a subtle touch of red around the corners of her mouth.

"Wow, Alex!" Kim exclaimed when she came out to join her friend. "That costume is on point! You are the spookiest vampire I have ever seen."

Alex smiled at Kim's compliment. "Thanks. Lots of people will over do the whole vampire thing and make it look cheesy, but I have always been a firm believer in subtlety."

"Well, you look great! Come on! Let's go meet the others."

Tommy's costume wasn't finished yet, so they all headed to the party without him. Trini was dressed as Pocahontas, Billy made a perfect Sherlock Holmes, Jason was dressed as Little John, and Zack had chosen King Tut. Everyone complimented Alex on her costume, and speculated about who would win the costume contest.

The party was great. Everyone was dancing and having a good time. Zach was trying to get a girl named Angela to dance, but she shut him down right away. Ernie was also dressed as a vampire, though he had gone full Count Dracula with the high-collared, flowing cape and a visible trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "I want to suck your blood!" he cried to three girls who were getting drinks.

"We'll take a pass, Ernie," Kim said, both she and Trini laughing at his cheesy line.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked. The girls just shrugged, but Alex decided to have a little fun of her own.

Her dark hair was hanging around her face as usual, and that just enhanced the subtle effects of her costume. "Relax, Count," she said, finally turning so that Ernie could actually see her face. "I have chosen these girls as my own meal for the night. Go stake your claim somewhere else." The lines were delivered with such a dead-pan expression and sincere tone that Ernie visibly cringed away from her before all three girls burst out laughing.

"You really got him good!" Trini exclaimed, patting Alex on the shoulder.

Alex flicked her hair over her shoulder and fixed Trini with a fierce look. "How do you know I was just joking?" she asked. But the sparkle of humor in her eyes ruined the effect this time, and all three girls once again began to laugh.

The Rangers' attention was caught by the arrival of Alpha, and they scurried over to see what was going on. The little robot had figured that the costume party would be a perfect opportunity for him to hang out with the Rangers without arousing suspicion. Alex wasn't completely fooled though. She saw right through her friends' explanation that he was visiting from out of town and knew that there was something fishy going on.

When Rita's Frankenstein monster arrived and crashed the party, it didn't help her suspicions. Billy suspected at first that the Frankenstein was Tommy, but Alex knew right away that it wasn't. Nothing bad really happened, so Billy left to follow the Freaky Frankie and the rest of them continued to enjoy the party.

The earthquake freaked everyone out, but then Billy rushed back in. "Alex, I'm sorry, but could you give us a moment please?" The concern on his face let Alex to do as he asked and step away. They all huddled together and spoke quietly for a moment before Jason broke away for a moment.

"Alex, Rita Repulsa is attacking again. You need to get somewhere safe. We're going to do what we can for others, but you need to stay hidden as best you can. Alright?"

Alex nodded and watched as her friends ran quickly out the door. She knew that something was going on but, for now, she knew that she needed to do as Jason asked and get somewhere safe.

While the Rangers went to deal with Rita's Frankenstein monster, Tommy arrived at the Youth Center just in time to get attacked by Putties at the door. Alex was just about to leave when she nearly ran into the fight outside the door. She ducked back into the doorway, hiding from the Putties. She had seen Tommy and Jason spar plenty of times and knew that he would be able to handle himself. But the last thing either of them needed was for the Putties to decide to try taking her prisoner and distracting him.

The confrontation wasn't long, and Alex peeked back around the doorframe at the sound of the Putties being teleported away. She was just about to call out to Tommy when a voice suddenly spoke out of thin air. Tommy spoke into the watch on his wrist and was told to join his fellow Power Rangers. Without hesitation, he pulled out a morpher and shouted "Dragonzord!" With a flash of light, he was suddenly clad in the Green Ranger suit. A golden shield extended over his shoulders, and Alex could see the Dragon Flute hanging from his hip.

As he disappeared in a flash of green light, Alex finally stepped out from the doorway. Tommy was the Green Power Ranger. That had to mean that Jason, Zach, Trini, Kim and Billy were the other Rangers. It wasn't hard to guess their respective colors. Confused and hurt, Alex lingered in the doorway until she could hear the sounds of the Rangers' Zord battle dying away to be replaced by silence and the sound of people cheering.

She didn't feel like going back to the party. It wasn't likely that it would get completely canceled. Nothing ever did after a Power Ranger victory. Everyone would come back and be even happier about the successful battle. They'd announce the winner of the costume contest and everything would proceed as normal. But nothing was normal any more. Alex's only friends had been lying to her. They'd been taking care of her and making her feel really wanted for the first time in years. But every time they said they were off doing something among just the six of them, they were battling Rita's monsters as the Power Rangers.

How had she not connected the dots before? How could she have been so completely fooled? She hadn't realized that she'd been walking back to her house. Her parents were nowhere to be seen, likely out enjoying their own party, so she went in via the front door. Only long enough to grab her sketch pad and pencils though. She needed to think. She needed to be alone. The only way she could do that was to go somewhere else. Still dressed in her vampire costume, she headed to the park.

The Rangers returned to the party, elated from their battle. Tommy's ingenious costume turned out to be very similar to the Frankenstein monster that Rita had sent. It gave everyone a good scare before Ernie announced that the winner of the costume contest was Alpha. The little robot had girls fawning over him but, of course, refused to reveal his identity.

It was only after this that Tommy noticed Alex's absence. "Hey, has anyone seen Alex? To be honest, I'm surprised she didn't win the contest."

"I told her to get somewhere safe when Rita attacked," Jason said, glancing around in an attempt to locate their missing friend. "Maybe she just went home. She probably thought the rest of the party would be canceled anyway."

"You're probably right," Tommy said. The rest of the Rangers seemed to accept this answer, but Tommy wasn't sure. Something in his gut just told him that there was something very wrong with their friend.

Night had fallen by the time Alex reached the park. She settled herself near a street light so she could see her paper as she worked. Drawing for herself always helped her think. It helped her process what was going through her head and work out her emotions. As she drew, she didn't focus on a particular design. She just let her hands move on their own while her mind was occupied.

She tried to rationalize what she was feeling. She was keeping secrets too. Her friends had no idea what went on at her house every single day. They didn't even know that it was likely she wouldn't be around for too much longer. But she had never actually lied to them about it. She simply hadn't told them. They had actively lied to her though. They lied every time they came up with an excuse for where they were going when the Rangers were needed to fight the Evil that continued to try to destroy their little city.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Her pencils flew over the paper in her lap, pressing harder and harder as though to engrave the picture into the page. She didn't stop until the image was complete. Only then did she look at what she had created. With a scream of frustration and rage, she threw the pad onto the sidewalk and stood, scattering her pencils over the grass around her. She continued to scream and rage. All of her emotions, pent up over years of keeping quiet, came pouring out. It had to be a good five minutes before she finally dropped, exhausted, onto the grass several feet from where she'd started.

After a few moments, Alex stood and collected her things. She walked home with only the light of the full moon to guide her. She was numb. Empty. Everything had been screamed out to the stars. All that was left was a plan for exactly how to inform the Rangers that she knew about them.

Unbeknownst to Alex, her screams did not go unheard. Not only did a few Trick-or-Treaters hear and scurry on quickly in case of werewolves; but Rita, frustrated at her lack of victory and hoping to see something that would make her feel better, had looked down at the earth and witnessed her emotional breakdown. Rita also saw the reason behind Alex's torment as she spied the drawing that lay on the grass. A wicked smile spread over the sorceress' face. Perhaps the day wasn't a complete waste after all.

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 **Please don't hate me! *Ducks behind Tommy***


	5. Rita's Offer

**Hello, Everyone! This chapter... well... I'll just let you read it.**

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Chapter Five

Rita's Offer

Rita sent Goldar and a group of putties to Earth to speak to the angry girl. Alex had been unable to sleep that night and had left the house before her parents had returned. She returned to the park, the only place she felt that she could be alone with her thoughts. That was when Goldar had appeared. The Putties surrounded her so she couldn't get away and then the big, armored money began to speak.

"Empress Rita has heard your cries, Human," he said. Alex had no self-defense training, but she took a defensive stance anyway. She couldn't know for sure what was going on, but she wanted to be prepared in case she had to run.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"My Empress would like to make you an offer you won't be able to refuse. She offers you the opportunity to get back at those pesky Power Rangers who betrayed you."

"Do I look stupid? I know who Rita is. She's been trying to take over the world. Tried to destroy this city more times than I can count. She brainwashed Tommy and made him do terrible things. Why would I trust her to not just use me as leverage over the Rangers? Or any other of a number of things she could do with me?"

"My Empress is prepared to offer you something that no one could give you before. The power to change your fate." Goldar extended his hand, and Alex took a single step closer to examine the object within it. It was a long, ornate paintbrush; the most exquisite thing Alex had ever seen. "With this, you can paint a new life for yourself. You would be welcomed and protected as part of Empress Rita's court. You could get back at all those who have caused you pain."

Alex reached out for the brush, but Goldar pulled his hand away. "Will you accept Empress Rita's offer? Will you join her court in exchange for more power than you could have ever imagined?"

Alex glanced up at Goldar's face, then back at the brush. "I will. But I want to let the Rangers know that their secret is no longer safe. I want to do it before I come to Rita's palace."

"Very well," Goldar said, nodding and holding his hand back out for her to take the brush. Alex wrapped her fingers around the beautiful brush handle, and lifted it from the monkey's paw.

The moment it was in her hand, Alex could feel the power coursing through it. She grinned and stroked it through the air before her. As she did so, she pictured Tommy's locker at school. A shimmering portal appeared before her, right in front of Tommy's locker. Alex reached into the portal and opened the locker with another swipe of her brush. Taking the picture, she had drawn only an hour before, Alex placed it on the top shelf in such a way that it would only fall out when Tommy gathered all of his things at the end of the day.

With a smug smile, she backed out of her portal and closed it. Alex grinned up at Goldar. "Can I meet Rita now?"

As much as she tried not to, Alex couldn't help but be impressed with Rita's moon palace. She was taken straight to see the Empress, her hand still holding her new magic paintbrush. "Alex, my dear!" Rita exclaimed when Alex entered the room. "I am so glad that you decided to accept my offer."

"I'm tired of being controlled. I've been manipulated and lied to my entire life. I'm ready for it to end."

"Of course you are, my dear," Rita said. Her voice was high-pitched and rather irritating, but Alex couldn't remember the last time someone called her dear so she didn't complain. "I can help you learn how to use that brush I gave you. Together, we will be unstoppable."

Alex nodded, but smirked. "Actually, I think I already have an idea of how it works." She closed her eyes and touched the tip of the brush to her forehead. She was still dressed in her vampire costume but, as she drew the brush down her face, ripples spread across her body. Her black hair was swept back in elaborate, yet simple braids to form a bun with several braids hanging down her back. Her clothes shifted from ill-fitting pants and shirt into a snug bodysuit that hugged her frame. The black material covered her arms and legs, but a short skirt of the darkest emerald green rippled into being around her hips. It extended up into a green and gold corset with black buttons up the front. Her battered Converse morphed into knee-high boots with low heels and gold piping.

As Rita and her minions looked on in awe, Alex lifted her brush and conjured a mirror. She examined her new look with satisfaction until she took a good look at her face. Without her hair to hide it, her face showed its extreme thinness. Her dark eyes were sunken in their sockets, and her cheekbones looked like you could cut your finger on them. She ran the tip of the paintbrush under her eyes and over her nose. The skin turned an even, pale color rather than showing the dark circles around her eyes. With that simple change, her face looked much less unhealthy and more intimidating. She had left the dark lipstick in place from her costume, but banished the red at the corners. Satisfied, Alex dismissed the mirror and turned on her heel to face Rita. "How's that?" she asked, a smirk again on her face.

"A look fitting my new General!" Rita exclaimed, clearly pleased. Alex grinned. This was going to be fun.

Alex was nowhere to be found at school the next day. The teachers that Tommy questioned said that she had called in sick. He couldn't understand what had happened to her. Clearly whatever it was wasn't related to Rita's attack as he had thought the night before. If she was okay enough to call in sick, that meant she at least wasn't injured. Confused and still concerned, Tommy decided to go to her house after school. She had asked that the Rangers stay away, but he had to know what was wrong with their new friend.

He opened his locker at the end of the day to gather his things and found a piece of paper falling on his head. Startled, he grabbed it before it could fall to the ground and looked at it. The blood drained from his face. He hid it quickly in his book and grabbed the rest of his things before rushing off to a secluded area. Lifting his communicator to his mouth, he spoke quickly. "Jason, come in."

"Yeah, Tommy what's up?"

"Get everyone to meet at the Youth Center. We have a situation."

When everyone was gathered around a table at the Youth Center, Tommy brought out the paper that had fallen out of his locker. He placed it in the center of the table where everyone could see it. "This fell out of my locker today."

The picture on the paper was of the Power Rangers. They were all lined up with their helmets off revealing their faces. The whole team was shown, each in their proper colors. They all had smug looks on their faces. Behind them, with lightning coming out of her fingers like glowing puppet strings, was Rita. Her face was depicted grinning down over the Rangers' heads at the small figure before them. Shown as a thin figure in all black, the Rangers couldn't see her face, but it was obvious that Alex was the one cowering in fear before them.

"How did she find out?" Zach asked, fingers tracing over the cruel features etched on his drawn face.

"All I can think of is that she saw me fighting the Putties outside," Tommy said, his voice quiet. "I was right outside the door. It wouldn't have been hard for her to see me."

"What are we going to do?" Kim asked. Both she and Trini were fighting tears and trying not to look at picture before them.

"We have to talk to her," Jason said, his voice grim.

"I am uncertain that is the wisest course of action," Billy added. He wasn't the only one to have spotted the deep imprints of the penciled faces. Jason and Tommy's drawn likenesses were the most deeply etched of all of them. "Clearly she is angry with us for hiding the fact that we are the Power Rangers."

"Which is precisely why we need to talk to her now," Trini exclaimed. "We have to explain why we never told her. Once she knows, she'll understand."

"I was going to go to her house," Tommy said. His eyes were fixed on the cowering black figure at the bottom of the picture.

"We should all go," Jason said. "We all need to apologize for what we did."

"Then let's go now!" Zach said, standing quickly. "The more we sit around, the angrier she'll get." They all stood up and Tommy grabbed the picture from the table. With one final look, he ripped it in half then crumpled the pieces and tossed them in the trash can. No one said anything as they left the Youth Center.

Alex wasn't at her house when the Rangers arrived. Her parents hadn't seen her, and were upset that she had apparently been gone since the night before. The Rangers thought it was strange that her parents seemed more upset that she was gone than worried about where she was. But they didn't have time to worry about it at the moment. They had to find Alex.

They spread out around town, searching for their missing friend. No one could find her, and they eventually met in the park, the only place they hadn't searched yet. They spread out through the park, looking for any sign that Alex had been there. Finally, Tommy found a lone pencil lying on the grass near a lamp post. He contacted the other Rangers, and showed them what he'd found.

A couple kids were walking past as they discussed where Alex might be. "Maybe your friend got eaten by the werewolf!" one of the kids said with a light laugh. When asked what he meant, he told the Rangers about the screaming they'd heard the night before. "It sounded like some kind of werewolf or something. It just kept screaming. We could hear it clear down the street."

The Rangers thanked the kid for his clue and the kids continued on their way. "She really was angry," Zach said grimly. "To just be screaming like that?"

"Hey, do you guys here that?" Kim's question made everyone go quiet for a moment. A very distinctive sound reached their ears. "Putties!" she cried, and they all ran in the direction of the sound.

They crested a hill to see a group of about ten Putties surrounding a dark figure. The girl was wearing a skin tight outfit in a mix of black, green and gold. As she turned to face them, the Rangers froze in shock and horror as her face was revealed to them. Alex looked very different without her dark hair hanging around her face. It was pulled back and hung down her back, revealing her pale face, dark eyes blazing in the paleness of her skin.

Tommy wanted to call out to her, but his voice failed him. Something had happened to her. Something bad.

"Tommy, look." Tommy glanced in Jason's direction to see that the Red Ranger was pointing at Alex's hand. The Green Ranger turned his focus back to the girl, still being circled by Putties. In her right hand, she held an elaborate paintbrush. He didn't have to be in Morph to feel the dark power radiating from the object.

"Alex!" he called, finally finding his voice. "What's going on? We've been trying to find you. To apologize."

"It's too late for your excuses, Power Rangers!" Alex shouted. "Rita has given me the ability to change my fate. No longer will I stand idly by while I am manipulated and lied to by those who should be my protectors. From now on, you will be facing the Peinta. The Painter. I paint my own fate!" With those words, Alex swished the paintbrush through the air. She and the Putties disappeared in a flash of multi-colored light, leaving the Power Rangers reeling.

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 **Do I need to invest in guard dogs yet?**

 **Please review**


	6. Gung Ho

**Hello, Everyone! Well, as I didn't have to hide from angry reviewers, here is the next chapter! It's a little short, but things will be more interesting in the next chapter, I promise! We're starting to get around to the point where we follow the show a bit more, but I promise we won't be having a word-for-word replay of every single episode. Enjoy!**

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Chapter Six

Gung Ho

Despite the fact that none of the Rangers wanted to do anything other than figure out how to get Alex back, Jason and Tommy had already signed up to be in a Team Ninja Competition. They couldn't back out, so they began training together with the other Rangers managing them.

Jason and Tommy weren't exactly the best at working together outside of Morph. They were still trying to outdo each other. Prove that they were each better than the other. With Alex's situation added into the mix, they were both also blaming each other and themselves for losing her. Their 'friendly' training sessions were quickly degrading into brawls as they each tried to work out their frustrations on the other.

The other Rangers were frustrated as well. Trini and Kim hadn't slept well since Alex left, and Zach had lost some of his spark. Billy seemed to be the only one who could maintain his composure. He tried to get Jason and Tommy to focus on the competition, which was only making them angry at him for staying so calm. Finally, they couldn't take it anymore.

Tommy was the first to snap. "How can you just sit there and act like you don't care?!" he shouted at Billy. The entire Youth Center went quiet, but Tommy was still glaring at Billy.

Jason placed his hand on the Green Ranger's shoulder. "Tommy," he said quietly. "Let's take this outside, okay?" Tommy shrugged his hand off, but stormed outside. The rest of the Rangers quickly gathered their things and followed him.

Billy had known that he would have to deal with questions about how calmly he was taking Alex's betrayal. He had, however, hoped it would wait until after the competition. They all went to a secluded area of the park, the only place they could talk without being overheard.

"Tommy, I know you're angry. Let me explain- "

"You bet I'm angry! Tommy shouted. The Green Ranger couldn't believe this was happening. Couldn't believe he was letting one of his friends go through the same thing he had gone through. Rita was either manipulating Alex with promises of revenge, or had brainwashed her the same as him. Either way, Alex, sweet and innocent Alex, was working with Rita against them. He knew he shouldn't be taking his anger out on Billy, but he had to do something.

"Tommy, I, too, am disenchanted with the current circumstances. However, we must look at the big picture. We still have to fight Rita, no matter who or what she has in her arsenal. We must also maintain our cover. We cannot let others discover our identities."

Tommy could see the logic in Billy's words. But that didn't make it any easier to think about the competition instead of how badly he'd screwed up with Alex.

"Stop that!" Zach's voice jolted Tommy out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I know what that look means. You're thinking that what happened with Alex is your fault. It's not. It's on all of us. It doesn't help that she didn't give us a chance to explain ourselves. Maybe if she'd talked to us instead of assuming that we were deliberately misleading her, she wouldn't have done this. But the fact remains that there is nothing we can do about it right now. Until she shows herself again and lets us talk to her, all we can do is maintain our cover like Billy said."

Tommy and Jason nodded. Zach was right. Even though it was what had gotten them in this mess to begin with, they had to maintain their secret. That mean that Jason and Tommy had to do their best to work together and figure out how to win this tournament.

Meanwhile, Rita was pleased that Rangers were having trouble amongst themselves. It allowed her to focus on the production of her new Super Putties and on training her new general.

Alex was quiet. She observed much and said little. This resulted in Rita initially being rather wary that she was simply there to gain intel and feed it to the Rangers but, when Alex showed no interest in returning to Earth to monitor the Super Putties first attack, Rita relaxed.

The attack caused the Rangers to return to the Command Center without even Morphing. As Rita celebrated, she noticed that even Alex had cracked a little smile at the success. "My dear," Rita said to Alex, catching the girl's attention. "Would you like to go down and watch the Putties destroy the ones who betrayed you?"

Alex nodded. "I would, Empress."

Rita grinned. "Then take some of the Putties and attack the factory near Angel Grove. That will get the Power Rangers' attention!"

With another nod, Alex swished her paintbrush and vanished along with several of the new Super Putties. When she was gone, Goldar approached Rita. "Are you sure we can trust her?"

"She hates the Rangers as much as we do. She'll do what she needs to in order to bring them down," Rita assured him.

Back at the Command Center, Zordon told the Rangers about the Super Putties and charged Jason and Tommy to locate some weapons that would be needed to defeat Rita's stronger foot soldiers. The alarm went off indicating an attack. "Rangers! Peinta is attacking the factory with some Putties!"

Tommy froze. "Alex is there? Zordon!"

"You and Jason must retrieve the weapons," Zordon insisted.

"We'll be alright, Tommy," Zach assured the Green Ranger. "We'll try to get through to Alex, but we can't just let her attack the factory."

Tommy nodded reluctantly, and the other Rangers Morphed and teleported away. Zordon gave Tommy and Jason each half of a map so that they could find the weapons and sent them on their way.

Zach, Billy, Trini and Kim arrived at the factory and were immediately set upon by the Putties. Even Morphed, the improved soldiers were hard to take down. Kim was the first to discover that defeating one simply made it split and reform as two new Putties. Trini caught a glimpse of Alex standing on a walkway above them, but she wasn't attacking so the Yellow Ranger focused on the Putties instead.

They were starting to tire when Jason and Tommy arrived with the new weapons. The Red and Green Rangers tossed the odd-looking guns down to their friends and the Putties were quickly defeated.

Tommy looked up to see Alex still standing above them. "Alex!" he called. He de-morphed, hoping that seeing his face would help her want to talk to them. "Please! Let us explain-,"

Without warning, Alex's arm swished through the air. A wide arc of green light launched itself toward them and everyone ducked, bracing for impact. But there was nothing. When they looked up again, Alex was gone. On the ground was a single word in glowing green letters. "TRAITORS."

The competition against a couple of Ninjas who had been sponsored by Bulk and Skull was almost anti-climactic after the fight with the Super Putties. Jason and Tommy had finally learned to work together on their quest for Zordon, so they were able to put aside their feelings of sadness about Alex and win the fight with little difficulty.

Afterward, they sat and drank celebratory smoothies and discussed Alex. "At least she didn't actually attack us," Trini pointed out. "We were really pinned down by those Putties. If she'd wanted to, it wouldn't've been hard for her to finish us off."

"And after the Putties were gone, she really could've hurt you," Kim pointed out, laying her hand on Tommy's shoulder. "You weren't even Morphed; she could've taken you out in an instant."

"Yeah, but if she doesn't really want to attack us, why is she with Rita in the first place? When I was brainwashed, I wouldn't've been able to stop even if I'd wanted to. So far all she's done is show up and then leave in some dramatic way. I'm worried that she'll have something really nasty to do before she finally lets us talk to her."

They were all silent at that. Tommy was right. Alex's lack of confrontation, despite her words when she revealed herself to them, indicated that something big was going to happen. They could only hope that it wouldn't end with someone dead.


	7. The Island of Illusion

**Hello, Everyone! First of all, let me apologize for my disappearance. It was partially due to Halloween and needing to get ready for that and making sure I had everything I needed. But, mostly, it was due to my new-found obsession with K-Pop and K-Dramas. One group in particular, EXO, has practically taken over my brain for the last several weeks. Combine that with keeping up with Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Once Upon A Time, and you have a great recipe for keeping me from writing. Also, I am having the hardest time writing Alex as a bad guy. I have never had to do that before, so my brain is totally revolting at having to do it to one of my most precious characters. We won't have much longer to wait for that to be over though, so that's helpful.**

 **This is the first chapter with the Island of Illusion. If you're following where I am in the episode list, you'll notice I kinda skip over the spinning wheel episode, but that was mainly because I really wanted to get to this point. I hope you all enjoy, and I'll do my best to not slack off so badly for the next chapter.**

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Chapter Seven

The Island of Illusion

Alex was gaining confidence with her new powers. The more she trained with the Brush, the more she thought of ways to get back at the Rangers for lying to her. She had taken to transporting to Earth in disguise and watching the Rangers continue with their lives like nothing had happened. Seeing them acting like she had never been there made her anger rise even more.

Rita had been angry with her for not attacking the Rangers after the Putties' attack, but Alex told her that she had something in mind that would be far better than what she could have done after the attack. While Rita kept the Rangers busy with a transformed spinning wheel of Kim's, Alex began to prepare something particularly complicated and clever.

The Rangers continued to struggle with their desire to get Alex back, and their need to maintain their cover. Alex's absence from school had raised a few questions at school, but only from teachers. Most of the other students hadn't even noticed that the quiet girl in the back of class had disappeared with no explanation.

Most troubling for the Rangers was the complete lack of any kind of panic from Alex's parents. There were no Missing Person flyers, and even the teachers at school hadn't made a fuss over her disappearance, meaning that they must've gotten a semi-reasonable explanation from Alex's parents.

Zach was forcing himself to practice for a dance competition, but it was clear his heart wasn't in it. Despite his brilliant moves, he was constantly doubting himself and there was no way he could win if he continued doing that.

Frustrated at his own lack of confidence, Zach fled to the park. The other Rangers prepared to follow him, but they were stopped before they could even leave the Youth Center. The ground began to shake violently. Most people rushed out, figuring it was an earthquake, but the Rangers knew better. They contacted Zordon as soon as everyone was too occupied to notice.

Zordon urged caution. He had no idea what was going on, but he and Alpha had detected some strange energy radiating from Rita's moon base. The Rangers decided to find Zach and inform him of what was going on. Tommy had to stay behind with a couple of kids he'd been teaching Martial Arts, but everyone else rushed out to find Zach.

They had just found Zach in the park when the Putties attacked. They morphed quickly when Scorpina and Goldar arrived. Even that fight didn't last long though. Rita sent a huge monster, Mutitis to attack them, and the Rangers called on their Zords. Only when they were engaged in battle with the ugly monstrosity, did Rita call on her ultimate ally. Locar was a giant head floating menacingly in the sky. His breath made Mutitis look even uglier.

By this point Tommy had managed to leave his students in Ernie's care and join the Rangers with the Dragon Zord. Unfortunately, Mutitis's added ugliness had some actual use. He sprayed both Zords with a toxic foam that drained them rapidly of power.

As the Zords struggled, Alex transported to Rita's side and informed her that the preparations were complete for the Island of Illusion. Alex had been working on perfecting the Island for about a week, determined to make it terrifying for the Rangers. She was going to make them pay for betraying her. They weren't going to get away with it.

The Zords finally fell to the effects of the toxic foam. As they tilted, the world twisted around the Rangers and they fell through reality. The Island of Illusion was waiting to receive them. Waiting to consume them in the combined rage of a Space Empress, and pain of a human girl. Rita's power created the island, but it was Alex's pain that would turn it into a maze of terror.

When the Rangers landed, they were no longer morphed, and were arrayed along a palm tree. At least they were all together, though they soon discovered their lack of communicators and morphers. They felt almost naked without them, but they proceeded to explore the island. The girls clung to Jason and they all felt like they were being watched.

Although they had yet to see anything scary, a foreboding atmosphere permeated the air around them, making them jump at the smallest of provocations. Zach thought he saw something strange in the bushes, but decided to write it off just as a strange sound filled the air. The Rangers covered their ears against it, but decided to try following it and discovering the source.

Zach was the one who found the little man playing on a strange flute against a tree. "Hello?" Kim called to the little man. He stopped playing and jumped up, turning to face them. "Do you think you could help us?" Kim asked. "You see, Rita-,"

The little flutist pushed back his green hood and spoke, interrupting Kim's request. "Rita! Stay away and don't come near if that Wicked Witchie sent you here! No friend of hers is a friend to me. You can't fool Quagmire, no siree!" With that, Quagmire turned on the spot and disappeared in a puff of colored smoke.

"Was it something I said?" Kim asked, confused. The others shrugged and turned away from the spot to continue on their way. They hadn't walked far when something finally happened. Goldar's head appeared to be projecting from the sky.

"Did you lose your precious Power Coins?" he called tauntingly. "You'll soon lose more than that!" With those words, several monsters appeared in front of the Rangers. They were monsters that had already been defeated, yet here they were.

The Rangers got into fighting positions, ready for the monsters to attack. The monsters approached, but just as they got within range, they vanished. "Weird," Billy exclaimed. "They disappeared!"

"Man! What kind of place is this?" Tommy wondered.

"A place where nothing is real except the danger!" Goldar answered. "Welcome to the Island of Illusion!"

Zach was freaking out. "Aw man, this is too weird!" he exclaimed. He was moving, walking away from the Rangers. "I don't think I can handle this." The Rangers followed him, worried. Zach didn't walk far before he was confronted with a large snake coiled on a branch in front of him. Zach was terrified of snakes, and his already low confidence level was only being exacerbated by the Island's magic.

The other Rangers hurried to his aid, but they couldn't see the snake. It was Zach's fear, so only he could see it. Zach finally broke away from them, and the invisible snake, and ran a short way away. "We can't fight something like that!" he exclaimed. "I don't feel so good." He didn't look so good either. To the Ranger's horror, Zach's lower body had already started to fade out of existence.

There was a puff of multicolored smoke, and Quagmire reappeared. "If Rita makes you doubt and fear, soon you're going to disappear!" he said. Another puff, and he was gone again.

"He means your loss of confidence is causing your body to dematerialize," Billy said.

"Come on, Zach!" Jason called. "Fight it! Don't let Rita get to you!"

"I'm trying!" Zach insisted.

"It's no use, Power Rangers!" Goldar was back in the sky to taunt them. "You can't fight your own worst fears! One by one, you shall all fade away forever!"

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 **Sorry for the shortness!**


	8. The Return

**Greetings, readers! As you can see, I have managed to keep my promise from the last chapter and actually have the next chapter out within a week! I have never been so relieved to finish a chapter than I was with this one. And in the next chapter we finally get the answers that Tenstar has been bugging me for since chapter 2.**

 **Hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

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Chapter Eight

The Return

"Don't let Rita get you, Zach!" Jason called. "Fight it!"

"I don't know if I can!"

Alex gazed down at the Island of Illusion from her spot with Rita and Goldar with an impassive look on her face. Something was wrong. Where had that little guy, Quagmire come from? He wasn't part of the Island that Rita had provided, and Alex certainly hadn't put him there. He just sorta appeared.

That wasn't the only strange thing though. Something didn't feel right. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but when Zach finally managed to keep himself from fading away by remembering a time he defeated one of Rita's monsters, she began to suspect. With Zach free, the Rangers continued on their way only for Kim to trip. Alex had taken special pleasure in crafting Kim's illusion so she watched eagerly, hoping that the knot forming in her stomach would go away.

Kim fell flat on her face after tripping over a rock. She expected to immediately feel hands helping her up, but there was nothing. Pushing herself up a bit, she blinked the dust out of her eyes just in time to see the others disappearing into the trees ahead of her. "Hey! Wait for me!" she called, struggling to get up.

"We're right here, Kim! Are you alright?" Tommy rested his hand on Kim's shoulder and tried to take her hand to help her up, but her movements were making that impossible. "She can't see us!" he exclaimed. "Quagmire! Help!"

With a puff of smoke, Quagmire appeared again. "A toad might fight you to the marrow, but stay your course, straight as an arrow."

"Not the toad creature!" Kim protested. "That was way too gross!" She struggled to push herself up again, but half her body had already faded away. Reluctantly, she recalled the battle with Rita's toad monster. Kim's Power Bow had been the only weapon with the range to attack. Despite the disgusting nature of the monster, Kim managed to fire her bow with perfect accuracy and defeated the monster.

The illusion cleared away and Kim gratefully accepted Tommy's help to get to her feet. "I thought you guys had left me!" she said, hugging everyone as soon as she was back on her feet. "I hate being alone!"

It was then that a thought struck Tommy. Even though it wouldn't be hard for Rita to inadvertently find out about Zach's aversion to snakes, Kim's fear was far deeper than that. Likely, Rita acting alone would have chosen something else entirely for Kim's illusion. But Rita wasn't acting alone. "Alex."

"What did you say?" Jason asked.

"Alex is helping Rita. Who knows what she could've told her. If Alex is crafting these illusions, I don't know if we can really escape!" Those words were all it took to trigger the illusion that had been crafted for Tommy. Rita had done a bit more work on this than Alex had, so when Tommy suddenly found himself surrounded by Putties, they weren't just illusions. Instead of his friends gathering around him to ask what he meant, he suddenly found himself surrounded by Putties standing in their places.

He attacked right away of course but the 'Putties' didn't really attack back. All he knew was that there were too many of them to fight.

"Really, Rita? Putties?" Alex was disappointed. "You took my perfect idea and made him face a few Putties? He can eat Putties for breakfast!"

"Quiet!" Rita barked. "I want to enjoy this!"

Alex backed away, shaking her head. She understood now. She had known all along, but had allowed her anger to blind her to the truth. Rita was just using her. The Empress had given her power, yes, but what had Alex done with it? She had directed years of anger and resentment toward the only people on the planet who truly cared about her. Now they were paying for her mistakes.

Back on the Island, Quagmire appeared to give Tommy a nudge in the right direction. "Dude, don't let Rita steer you wrong. Think strong thoughts. You'll be strong." Tommy knew he was right. He remembered the fight with the Putties on Halloween. The night everything had gone wrong with Alex. He almost wavered at that thought, but a small voice in his ear reminded him to think of how he defeated the Putties not what came after. With that, he managed to keep himself from fading away.

He opened his eyes with a smile, but froze. She was there. She was standing in front of him. He hadn't managed to get a good look at her new outfit before, but now, he could see just how impressive it was. He also noted that she seemed to have copied his colors, though whether that was intentional or she just liked them, he wasn't sure.

"Alex?" he asked. He was vaguely aware of the other Rangers forming a defensive position behind him.

"I'm sorry, Tommy," she said quietly. "I have been angry for so long. I've wanted to do something for such a long time. When Rita offered me the power to change my fate, I jumped at the chance. But I didn't change my fate. I just fell into the same pattern of manipulation that I've been dealing with since I was seven. Rita took all my pain and anger and directed it toward the only people who never tried to hurt me."

Alex looked toward the sky, a suddenly fierce look on her face. "No more!" she shouted. "I refuse to be manipulated by anyone! I know who my true friends are! The ones who stood by my side when I thought no one would ever see me!"

Up in her palace, Rita screamed in rage. She called up her magic and sent it toward the Island. She had feared this day would come. The day when Alex would no longer be able to be trusted. She had prepared for it.

Alex suddenly found herself caught in an illusion more vivid than any the Rangers had been forced to deal with. Her parents towered over her, her mind back in the body of her seven-year-old self, showing them one of her first paintings. It was only a finger painting, but the details were impressive for someone that young. Calculating smiles spread across her parents faces.

Alex knew what was coming. Her fists clenched in anger, but she was holding something. She looked down and saw the ornate paintbrush still clutched in her hand. A grin spread over her face. "You can't fool me, Rita! My language is images, my food is art. I now take your sad attempts and blow them apart!" With a vicious slash of the paintbrush, the illusion shattered. The smiling face of Quagmire appeared briefly before her, but quickly disappeared as the colors of the illusion were replaced by the bright sun of the Island.

Alex smiled at the Rangers. "I think it's time you had these back." She waved the brush in their direction and they all found their communicators and Power Coins returned to them. They all cheered, glad to have their things back. "We need to hurry!" Alex called, cutting off their celebrations. "Rita won't like what I've done!"

She was right. The Rangers barely had time to morph before Rita smashed the Island of Illusion to bits. Alex teleported away as well, landing on a rooftop just in time to see the Rangers return to their Zords. The Dragon Zord and Mega Zord combined to defeat Mutitus, then joined with the Brachiosaurus Zord, Titanus to create the Ultra Zord and fire at Lokar. The giant head was hit, but retreated before they could try again. With the return of the sun, Rita retreated to her moon base and the Rangers won the day yet again.

Once they'd sent the Zords away and demorphed, the Rangers rushed to find Alex. She was waiting for them not far away. She was dressed in a simple black long sleeve, jeans, and her usual converse. Her hair had been returned to its usual state of hanging slightly in her face.

She stood meekly on the corner of the street, like she was waiting for their judgement. They all stood for a moment, just looking at her. Kim was the first to break the stillness. She rushed across the short gap between them and wrapped her arms around Alex's thin frame. "I'm so sorry for lying! We weren't allowed to tell anyone. We didn't mean to hurt you!"

Alex hesitantly returned the hug. "Y- you aren't angry with me?"

The other Rangers gathered around the two girls, each gently placing a hand on Alex's shoulders. "We know you were angry," Jason said gently. "I wish you'd given us a chance to explain, but I understand how you could've felt like we betrayed you."

"Do you think you can tell us what happened that made you act like that?" Trini asked.

"Maybe later. Doesn't Zach have a dance competition to get to?" Alex was stalling a bit, but that was okay this time. She needed to watch Zach dominate Bulk on the dance floor and feel like a normal girl for a little longer before she told the Rangers the truth. Because the truth was very painful, and it was going to take all her strength to face it.


	9. The Truth Revealed

**Here we are. Finally all the answers you could ever want.**

 **Slight spoilers, but this chapter needs a trigger warning for attempted suicide and parental abuse.**

 **Please don't kill me!**

 **Edit: I fixed a little bit of wording that was pointed out as not fitting with the characters.**

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Chapter Nine

The Truth Revealed

Alex hadn't gone home that night. She told the Rangers that she was, but she spent the night huddled in a ball in the park instead. Only about half of that time was spent sleeping. The rest of the night, she stared at the paintbrush that Rita had given her.

Now that she wasn't blinded by anger, she could feel the dark aura that the brush exuded. She wanted to throw it away or break it or something. She was repulsed by its darkness. But something else kept her from doing anything to get rid of it. She could still use it. It hadn't lost its powers from no longer being with Rita as evidenced by her ability to teleport away from the Island and change her clothes. She hadn't possessed it for long. Perhaps she could get some use out of it before she destroyed it. Or, maybe the Rangers had something that could cleanse the darkness from it and let her continue to use it as a weapon.

Luckily, the next day was a Saturday, so the Rangers agreed to meet Alex in the park to finally hear the truth behind her strange behavior. They all agreed to bring supplies to turn the discussion into a picnic to help relax a bit after the stress of the last few weeks. They finally had Alex back. Despite the somewhat solemn atmosphere that permeated the air, the Rangers couldn't help but feel elated that they finally had their friend back.

Kim noticed that Alex was still wearing the same clothes from the night before, and she was holding the brush Rita had given her. She exchanged a concerned look with Trini, but neither Ranger said anything aloud. They were here for answers, and they were going to get them.

Jason and Tommy seemed to have decided to handle Alex like she was made of fine china. They both guided her to sit down on the picnic blanket and offered her some food without even mentioning what they were all gathered for. The meal was quiet, and Alex only ate a tiny amount of food and sipped at the water bottle that had been brought for her.

Finally, as the Rangers were starting to gather their trash, Alex cleared her throat. "I've been trying to figure out how to say this. There is so much to say. So much to explain. I've never told anyone before. I was too afraid to. But I'm tired of being afraid." Her fingers closed around the brush in her lap and the Rangers flinched as she lifted it. Her movements didn't stop though, and she ran the tip of the brush over her face. The smooth motion was followed by sweeping her hair back from her face so they could see it properly for the first time.

Both Trini and Kim tried and failed to hold back gasps as they finally saw how thin Alex's face was. Jason, Tommy and Zach all stiffened, fists clenching and jaws tightening at the image before them. Billy seemed to react the least strongly, and Alex focused on him to gather courage to begin.

"My mother was once a brilliant artist. I remember growing up going to parties and gallery openings. We had a nice house and I had all the toys a little girl could wish for. But when I was about five or six, she broke her arm. She couldn't paint for a long time because of the type of break it was. She fell into a depression and lost inspiration. She was frustrated and angry, and I think Dad eventually started feeding off that.

"I was seven when I first came to them with one of my pieces. It was a finger painting of a bouquet of flowers. They were thrilled. From that day on, my parents were more normal toward each other. They encouraged me to spend all my time painting or drawing. I enjoyed it, so I didn't mind. They were happy again, and we had nice things and went on trips to all sorts of fun places."

Alex dropped her eyes from Billy and started fiddling with the brush. "It wasn't until I was thirteen that I realized what they were doing. They were taking my work and selling it like they had done with my mother's work before. It didn't bother me at first, but then I found out that they weren't selling it under my name. They were selling as though my mother was the one behind it. Even that didn't bother me at first. But when I turned fourteen I asked them to start selling them under my name. I didn't care about the previous works. If they had admitted that they sold the work under Mom's name, it could've ruined them. So, I just asked that they sell future work under my name. They refused.

"They had become obsessed with the fame. They are well-known in powerful circles because of my work, and they didn't want to give that up. I wanted to get into the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. But I couldn't apply if everyone thought my work was copied from my mother's style. I begged them to reconsider. That's when they began to change. They weren't kind and gentle anymore. All they cared about was that I keep their source of income flowing. I tried to tell a teacher at my school, but they refused to believe me. My friends found out what I'd said, and turned against me. They were all the children of important people that my parents knew. No one believed me. I couldn't see any way out."

Wordlessly, Alex held her hand out and pulled up her sleeve. Kim buried her face in Tommy's shoulder at the sight that Alex presented them. A smooth, pale scar ran across her wrist. It was the only one that marred the pale skin, but that wasn't the only thing that was disturbing. Alex's arm was so thin they could see the bones beneath the pale skin. It was this, and the scar that made even Billy flinch.

"After I recovered, my parents moved us away from the house we'd lived in my whole life. They didn't want people to know what I'd done. They became worse after that. I tried to drown myself after only a month. They caught me and we moved here after I recovered. We've been here for about six months. I haven't eaten a full meal in three months. I figured that would be the only way they couldn't prevent.

"When I met you guys, I didn't feel quite so hopeless. I ate a little more, tried a little harder. I wanted to survive for you. If only to feel the warmth of your friendship a little longer. But when I found out you'd been lying to me…"

Kim and Trini were openly crying at this point. Even they guys were blinking rapidly, though the action wasn't keeping a few tears from escaping Tommy and Billy. Alex remained silent, gazing down at her lap and wondering what she was going to do now.

Kim was the first to move, nearly launching herself at Alex and almost knocking her backward onto the grass. "We won't let you get hurt again!" she exclaimed through her tears. She leaned back and turned to the other Rangers. "We have to do something! We can't let her go back there. We'll have to tell someone."

"You're right," Jason replied. "We'll have to get parents involved. This isn't a Ranger problem, it's a real-world problem and we have to get help to deal with it."

The Rangers began planning, figuring out whose parents would be the best to talk to. Alex could barely believe what was happening. Not only did her friends clearly believe her, they were immediately figuring out what to do about it. She was so touched and relieved that she started crying. The Rangers gathered her into a big group hug, assuring her that they wouldn't let her be hurt anymore and that they were going to do everything they could to help her.

Jason's parents ended up being the ones who got told first. They believed the united front of all six Rangers, and called the police. Alex had to tell the story again, but the Rangers were there to support her. The police went to the house to investigate and found clear evidence that Alex was telling the truth. The Rangers came in afterward, to help Alex gather some of her things, and finally got a look inside her bedroom.

There wasn't a bed, just a sleeping bag rolled up in the corner to make room for several painting easels with multiple projects in various states of completion. The Rangers had seen examples of Alex's work in her drawings, but the paintings on display here were even more amazing. The colors were expertly done, and the details were stunning. Most of them were landscape pieces, but there were a couple with silhouettes of people they recognized as being themselves.

As soon as the police were out of the room, Alex pulled out the Brush. Jason stiffened and took a step forward. "Alex," he said, concerned.

"It's alright, Jason," she assured him. Calmly, she touched the brush to the center of all the landscapes. Immediately, angry, dark lines appeared across the canvases. She then hid the brush away again and grabbed the two canvases with people in them. A single backpack with two extra shirts, a pair of jeans and a set of pajamas was quickly slung over her shoulder. "Let's get out of here," she said. Without another word or a look back at the room, she walked out.


	10. Author's Note

**Author's note**

 **I usually hate these, because they aren't a chapter. But you all deserve an explanation. With Thanksgiving, and then the preparations for Christmas, I wasn't able to get the next chapter of this story finished. Mostly, I have been slacking because I finally figured out what I wanted to do for my Christmas story this year!**

 **I'd really love for you all to take a peek into my personal, alternate universe where fandoms live in harmony. I'd really love for you all to go check it out in place of this. I will likely come back to this in the new year. If I get stuck on my Christmas story you might get at least one more chapter before the end of the year. Otherwise, I hope to see you all on my other story!**

 **Have safe travels, a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!**


	11. The Green Candle

**Hey, everyone! Guess who isn't dead!**

 **Yeah, my limit of how far I could stretch the "I was writing something else" excuse ran out around the end of February and turned into the "I'm lazy and have no inspiration which is an awful excuse" excuse. So... Sorry!**

 **I'm back now though! Hopefully I'll be able to go back to the once a week updates that'd I'd done previously. I've honestly missed writing, and feel that it's something I need to get back into my life.**

 **Things will be super interesting in the next few chapters, as we have reached the critical stage of losing Tommy temporarily. This chapter is short, as I decided to just do the first part of the Green Candle episodes and get it to you guys before I procrastinated another month away trying to write all of it at once. But the next few chapters should be significantly longer.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Ten

Green Candle

Rita was furious. Twice now, she had attempted to use the Rangers' friends to attack them. Both times had failed. Now, they had two allies with extraordinary powers. Powers she had given them! Their most powerful Ranger had been her creation, and the paintbrush she'd foolishly given that underfed brat was causing more problems than she'd thought it would. Four times now, she'd used monsters trying to get it back. But it was too powerful. And in the hands of an artistic prodigy, there was no hope of turning it back to her will.

There was only one thing she could do. If she couldn't rob them of their powerful artifact, she'd have to steal back their most powerful ranger instead. Rita's anger-induced headache began to fade as her evil plan took shape in her mind. The Green Ranger was about to fight his last battle.

Alex was beyond happy. The past few weeks had seen her energy returning as she slowly got her body used to eating normally again. It hadn't felt comfortable at first. She had been starving herself for so long, that eating normally made her feel sick. But her friends were there to help her. They quickly learned when they needed to push her to eat, and when they needed to back off. It would still be a while before she was back to a healthy weight, but they were making a good start.

After some policy-maneuvering, Trini's parents had gained permission to have Alex stay with them. The yellow Ranger was thrilled to have her new friend living with her, and had helped the girl get settled in her new bedroom. There was a twin bed in one corner next to the window that looked out over the back yard which was large and sunny and perfect for an artist to contemplate. There wasn't much else in the room, but that was fine. The corner opposite the bed held Alex's easel, which she set up with her favorite of the paintings she'd taken from her house and proceeded to finish and give to her new foster parents as a thank you gift. It was a scene of the park with the six Rangers engaged in various fun activities together.

The first thing Alex had done after her first day back at school was sign up for Jason's beginner karate class at the Youth Center. Everyone thought this was a brilliant idea, and happily encouraged her in her new activity.

Of course, they couldn't be left to completely enjoy their new freedoms in peace. Rita made herself a nuisance by sending several monsters to try and get them. Alex was able to help by using her brush to take care of/ distract the putties so that the Rangers could deal with the real problems.

Still, the Rangers managed to have lives outside being Rangers. There was a dance coming up at the school, and they were all looking forward to it. Alex was a little nervous, as this would be her first school event where she actually cared at all about going or even finding someone to go with. Tommy was planning on asking Kim, though Zach was having to give him some encouragement. Little did they know that the dance would soon be the least of their problems.

Alex was working on homework with Billy when the blue Ranger's communicator went off with the distinctive six-tone beep. Zordon's voice came through, calling for Billy to come to the command center. Billy hadn't made a communicator for Alex yet, but he informed Zordon that he was with her and to lock onto both of them to bring them in.

Kim was pacing when they arrived, explaining about how putties had attacked her and Tommy in the park and captured Tommy. "Another one of Rita's wicked plans!" she exclaimed, her face etched with worry. "She's gonna try and regain control of Tommy!"

Alex fingered the bristles of the paintbrush thoughtfully. At Zordon's insistence, she kept it at the command center when she didn't need it in a battle. "Even if she did manage to brainwash him again," she mused, "we'd just break it again. There's no point in doing the same thing twice. Even Rita isn't that stupid. There must be some other reason she grabbed Tommy."

"I can't get a lock on him," Zordon said. "Rita must be holding him in her dimensional prison."

"Billy, have you come up with anything?" Jason asked.

"Not yet, I'm still trying to tune into the frequency on Tommy's morpher." Suddenly, the alarm sounded indicating a monster attacking in Angel Grove. They all quickly moved to look in the Viewing Globe and were rewarded with an image of the Dragonzord attacking the city. Everyone assumed this meant that Rita had gained control of Tommy again, but Alex wasn't so sure. Something wasn't right about this. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something seemed off about the zord.

Thankfully, she wasn't the only one Zordon checked the sensors, and confirmed that the real Dragonzord was still in its dock in the bay. But that didn't take care of the current problem rampaging through the city. While the Rangers morphed, and teleported back to the city, Alex swished the brush and changed her clothes into the outfit she'd created as Peinta. She'd adjusted the coloring to be a bit more gold and less black and added a mask over the upper half of her face to protect her identity, but it was the same basic style. Then she created a portal and stepped through it in time to see the Rangers engaged in battle with Goldar and a group of Putties.

As the fake Dragonzord was still rampaging through the city, she began crafting something to help combat it until the Rangers could summon their zords to help. She managed to trap the zord's tail and slow it down just long enough for the Rangers to put the Megazord together and attack it.

Just when they were worrying that they wouldn't be able to defeat it, a familiar sound pierced the air. Six clear notes echoed triumphantly through the air and Alex turned to see that Tommy had teleported to the roof beside her. She was so happy to see him that it took her a few moments to notice that he had to call the Dragonzord three times before it arrived. Once it had arrived though, the two zords made quick work of the impostor, forcing it to reveal its true form before vanishing completely.

They returned to the command center and Alpha scanned Tommy to make sure he was alright from crossing dimensions. He was, but he had some bad news. Rita had created a candle from some special wax she'd enchanted to steal Tommy's powers. If they didn't move quickly, the Green Ranger would soon be no more.


	12. Benched

**Greetings!**

 **I did it! I finally finished my need chapter. It's a bit of a doosy.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Benched

Rita poured over her spell book, searching desperately for something that could keep her plans from being ruined. That stunt the little brat, Alex, had pulled with the Brush had been crucial in helping the Rangers defeat her Cyclops monster. It could not happen again. If she couldn't steal the Brush its self back, she'd just have to steal its powers along with the Green Ranger's. If the Powered Punks still had access to the Brush, then eliminating the Green Ranger would be pointless. A wicked grin spread over Rita's face as she found what she was looking for. It wouldn't immediately solve the problem, but it wouldn't be hard to make sure that Alex wouldn't be a problem any longer.

Everyone was worried. Every moment they delayed, meant another moment that Tommy was closer to losing his powers all together. "Isn't there anything we can do?" Kim asked, worriedly.

"Someone must journey to Rita's Dark Dimension and retrieve the candle before it burns out," Zordon said.

"How do I get there?" Tommy asked immediately.

"You don't," Zordon replied. "Your presence will only accelerate Rita's spell. Another Ranger must go in."

"I'll go," Jason volunteered without hesitation.

"Forget it," Tommy protested. "No way."

"Look, it makes sense," Jason argued back. "I'm the only other Ranger who's ever been there."

"I could go," Alex said, silencing everyone as they turned to look at her in disbelief. "It wouldn't be hard to use the Brush to create a portal there and then grab the candle and get out before anyone even knew I was there."

Tommy was about to object even louder than he had to Jason, but Zordon beat him to it. "No, Alex. We can't be certain that Rita won't sense the Brush's power and attempt to take it as she has before. If Rita were to gain the Brush's power as well as the power of the Green Ranger, she could well become unstoppable."

Alex wanted to protest more, but she knew Zordon was right. They couldn't let Rita get the Brush back. Tommy reluctantly agreed to let Jason retrieve the Green Candle, and they began discussing options for how to get to the Dark Dimension. Luckily, Alpha quickly took care of that by announcing that he'd found the doorway to the Dimension that the Putties had used in the park.

Billy quickly put together two tall poles that looked vaguely reminiscent of transporter pattern enhancers from Star Trek. He explained that they were Molecular Decoders, which would allow them to follow the Putties' path from the park to the Dark Dimension. While the five original Rangers teleported to the park, Alex and Tommy remained in the Command Center to keep an eye out for any problems Rita might throw their way.

While they waited, Alex and Tommy chatted about anything and everything to distract them. Alex mentioned that Billy had ended up asking her to the dance, then shyly asked if Tommy had asked Kim yet. Tommy looked away, laughing uncomfortably, "No. I was working on it, but then…" he gestured vaguely at the command center around them and Alex nodded.

Suddenly, alarms began sounding, and lights flashed on the consoles, signaling an attack. Alex and Tommy scrambled to look at the Viewing Globe, (honestly, could Zordon not think of something cooler to call it?) and were shocked to see Dragonzord in Battle Mode. "It is no doubt Rita's Cyclops monster posing as Dragonzord," Zordon said. "And assuming Dragonzord's power."

"Shall I contact the Rangers?" Alpha asked.

"That is what Rita hopes we will do," Zordon replied. "So that while the Rangers are occupied, the Green Candle will burn down."

Tommy stepped forward, about to suggest that he go and battle the monster himself. But Alex placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Tommy, let me go. Cyclops' powers are all about assuming the illusion of the power attached to whatever he's mimicking. But it's just an illusion. I can get through it no problem now that I know how he works. I don't want you to end up in trouble if your powers disappear in the middle of a battle."

"Alex, are you sure you can handle it?"

"Positive." Alex looked up at Zordon, almost daring him to protest as well, but the big head simply hummed.

"Very well, be careful, Alex. It is still likely that Rita will attempt to retrieve the Brush."

Alex nodded, "I will, Zordon." She grabbed the Brush from its box and waved it over herself, materializing her costume. She locked eyes with Tommy one more time, and then stepped through the portal she opened behind her.

Alex exited her portal on top of a building. The fake Dragonzord was tearing into buildings around her, but she didn't seem to be in danger herself yet. She could feel the power thrumming through the Brush in her hand. It was ready to be put to work. Raising the Brush, Alex pictured the Cyclops monster as she'd seen it when the Rangers had forced it to reveal itself. She swirled the Brush through the air, feeling the power ripple through the instrument as her mind reached to pull the Dragonzord's power and form away from the monster.

Suddenly, the power snapped. Alex screamed as the backlash slammed into her, knocking her backward. Ears ringing, she hit the ground and curled into a ball as her mind tried to process what had just happened. One moment, everything had been going perfectly. The next moment, something had ripped at the power she'd been channeling and broken it free from her control. She clutched at her head, trying to ease the pounding that had settled there.

A pair of hands on her shoulders startled her out of her daze and she looked up to see Tommy, morphed, hovering over her. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice sounding concerned. "What happened?"

Alex groaned. "I'm not sure. But we can worry about that later, where's the monster?"

"Don't worry about that, right now," Tommy scolded. He lifted his wrist, "Alpha, can you transport Alex to the Command Center?"

Alex's protests were cut off by crackling white light that engulfed her and silenced her via dematerialization. When she landed, she was about to start yelling at Zordon, but then she noticed the Brush still clutched in her hands and fell into a stunned silence.

When Rita had given her the Brush, Alex had felt it was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. It was long and slender, it's black handle decorated with intricate designs in gold. Its tip was smooth, the bristles naturally coming together in a precise point that would be perfect for detail work. Now, the bright gold designs looked tarnished. The black of the handle was faded and dull. Worst of all, the perfect and precise tip was all but gone. Only a few ragged bristles remained.

Alex stared down at the brush in disbelief as Alpha watched Tommy's fight against the Cyclops monster through the Viewing Globe. She was powerless now. She was useless. Was this how Tommy had felt when they all asked him to stay behind? Was this how he would feel if they failed in getting the Candle before it burned away completely?

"Green Ranger's in trouble, Zordon!" Alpha announced, snapping Alex out of her scared musings.

"We cannot hold off any longer," Zordon said. "I must send the other Rangers to help him."

"But what about the Green Candle?" Alpha asked.

Zordon didn't answer. He simply called the Rangers and told them to abort the mission. Billy's voice came through the communicator. "What about Jason? He's not back yet!"

"One of you will have to enter the portal and retrieve him," Zordon replied.

"I'll go." That was Zach's voice. "Can Alex help until we can get there?"

"I already tried," Alex answered dejectedly. "Rita did something to my Brush. I don't know if it even works anymore!"

"Don't worry about it. I'll be back shortly with Jason." The communication cut off. A few moments later, the Rangers teleported to their Zords. They immediately called on Titannus and combined all of their Zords to quickly destroy the monster. All of the Rangers immediately transported back to the Command Center.

"We're going back in after the Candle," Jason announced as soon as they'd landed.

"It is too late, Rangers," Zordon said. "The Green Candle has been extinguished. Not only that, but Rita seems to have found a way to steal the power from Alex's Brush."

"Then Rita has won?" Tommy asked, his voice sounding hopeless.

"There is only one way to stop the transference of power now," Zordon said. "Green Ranger must give up his power coin."

"No way," Kim protested. "He can't just give up!"

"There's no other choice, Kim," Tommy assured her.

"By giving his coin to another Ranger, Tommy can prevent Rita from gaining its power. It is the only way."

"What about giving it to a non-Ranger?" Alex asked. Everyone turned to stare at her. "Rita is stealing my power as well as Tommy's," she held up the ragged brush, now down to only three or four bristles, as proof. "But, if we combine the two, maybe we can keep Rita from getting any of the power. Giving up the coin only solves half the problem. She would still have the power from my brush."

"Is it possible?" Trini asked, looking back up at Zordon.

"Theoretically, yes," Zordon replied. "But it is risky. How do you intend to combine the power?"

Alex choose not to answer Zordon and turned to Tommy instead, looking up into the eyes of his helmet earnestly. "What do you say, Tommy?" Then she looked around at the other Rangers. "Guys? Can I be a Ranger?"

Zach came up beside her and gripped her shoulder in support. "I'd be honored to have you as my teammate."

"We all would," Jason added as the other Rangers gathered around to express their support.

"If you're sure," Tommy said gently, "I'd be honored to give you my power."

Alex nodded. Tommy took the power coin from the Morpher on his belt and placed it in Alex's hand. She took the Brush in her other hand, closed her eyes, and focused on channeling the remaining power from the Brush to the coin. She stroked the remaining bristles of the Brush over the coin's surface. The bristles seemed to melt into the suddenly soft gold of the coin. The symbol on the coin changed to depict an actual dragon in flight. The detailing similar to the other Rangers' coins.

A crackle of orange energy spread from the coin over Alex's body. It settled on the brush handle still in her hand and arced between the coin and the tip of the handle. Alex moved her hands closer together, and the energy engulfed the two pieces in bright light. When the light faded, Alex was holding her own Morpher. It was black instead of the standard silver, but the coin was settled in its center just like the others.

The golden shield vanished from Tommy's shoulders, and he stumbled only to be caught by the others. "Tommy, I'm so sorry!" Kim exclaimed. Alex wanted to add her own apology, but it felt hollow even in her own head.

Tommy's body glowed as he slowly de-morphed for the last time. "It was great being a Ranger," he said. "You'll always be with me."

"Tommy!" Alex was crying. She clutched her new morpher in her hands. She wanted to throw it away. It didn't belong to her, this was Tommy's power! Before she could continue berating herself, she found herself wrapped in a pair of strong arms.

"It's alright, Alex. You'll make an amazing Ranger. I can't wait to see what you bring to the team." He pulled back, but left one arm around her shoulders. "What's important to me now, is my friendship with you guys. I don't ever want that to change."

"It won't, Tommy," Kim assured him. "You'll always be one of us."

Meanwhile, on the moon, Rita was throwing a temper tantrum. Those powered brats had stolen her power! How dare they?! She and Goldar vowed to exact revenge. They wouldn't let the newest Ranger forget where her powers had come from. They would show those brats just what it meant to mess with Rita Repulsa.


	13. The Sting of Doubt

**Greetings!**

 **I'm back! This chapter took longer than the others to do because it's entirely original content. You heard correctly, I made up this entire chapter on my own! You'll finally get to see Alex as the awesome Orange Ranger, and get a small idea of the power that she has. Sorry it took so long!**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

The Sting of Doubt

"Alexa!" The sound of her teacher's sharp voice snapped Alex out of her thoughts and she looked up quickly. "Please try to pay attention. Your grades are not the best, I'd hate to have to fail you completely."

Alex nodded, and the teacher returned to the lesson. Zach made a quiet noise to get her attention and mouthed a question, asking if she was alright. "I'm fine," she replied silently, brushing off his concern. She returned her attention to the teacher, trying to ignore the glaring gap in the students sitting ahead of her. Tommy had left town after losing his powers. He still communicated with them, mostly with Kim, but Alex couldn't help feeling like it was all her fault.

Why had she suggested that he give his powers to her? It was so out of character for her to say something so bold. It had seemed logical at the time, it kept their powers out of Rita's hands and it let her join the Rangers as more than just someone who helped them occasionally. She'd solidified her place on the team. But, to do so, she'd booted out the guy who'd brought her to these people and rescued her in the first place.

The bell rang, jolting her from her thoughts again. She stood quickly, gathering her things to take to her locker. She didn't make eye contact with Zach as she slipped out the door, but he was faster than her and caught up not far from the door. "Alex, what's going on? You've been acting off since Tommy left."

"I'm fine, Zach," she insisted, not looking at him. She wanted to walk faster, but the hallway was crowded with students hurrying to put their things away and go home or to extracurricular activities. Zach followed her all the way to her locker and she groaned inwardly. She wouldn't be able to get away from him if he trapped her at her locker.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked gently. Everyone had been so distracted lately that he wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't kept track of how much she'd eaten.

"I don't know," Alex replied shortly, opening her locker door and shoving her things inside.

"Did you eat breakfast? Lunch? I was helping one of the teachers so I don't know if you were there or not."

"I just told you I don't remember!" she snapped, slamming her locker closed. "Just leave me alone!"

Zach followed from a safe distance until she was outside the school then ran forward and latched onto her arm. "We're going to the Youth Center," he announced. "I'm buying, so you get whatever you want."

Alex glared at him, but let him tug her in the direction of the Center. "What I want is to do my homework and get ready for my next karate class."

"I can tell you for a fact that Jason won't let you participate until he knows you've been properly nourished," he told her with a grin. He slung his arm around her shoulders as the Center came into view. "You know we're just looking out for you, right?"

Alex sighed, but nodded and let Zach direct her to sit at one of the tables once they were inside. Nothing seemed particularly appealing, so Zach ordered for them both while Alex pulled out her homework.

Their teacher had been correct; Alex's grades weren't the best. Having spent the first several months in Angle Grove prioritizing painting over school, not having the energy to concentrate due to slow starvation, and then briefly skipping school all together while serving Rita, Alex's grades needed some work.

Alex barely acknowledged the arrival of the food as she bent over her books. With a sigh, Zach set her plate on top of the book she was reading, drawing a startled glare. "Eat," he insisted, lifting his own sandwich to emphasize his point.

Alex snatched the sandwich from her own plate, took a bite, then set it back down and pushed the plate away. Zach let out an exasperated sigh and reached to grab the book away from her. He was stopped by the six-tone beeping that emitted from their communicators.

Alex was suddenly very glad she hadn't eaten more than a bite. She froze completely. That beeping could only mean that Rita was about to cause trouble. If things got dicey, they'd ask her to morph. She couldn't morph! She didn't deserve to!

Zach tugged on her hand as he stood, and she numbly followed him to the entryway where they had a bit of privacy. "Go ahead, Zordon," Zach said as soon as they were alone.

"Rangers, there is a disturbance in the park. You must investigate immediately."

"We're on our way," Zach prepared to teleport, then noticed that Alex was still just standing there. "Alex!" he gripped her shoulder for a moment to shake her out of her daze and she snapped back to reality. "We gotta go to the park." Alex nodded once, and they both teleported to the park in streaks of orange and black.

As soon as they arrived, they saw what the problem was. A group of putties was surrounding one of Rita's monsters that resembled a giant wasp. The two Rangers moved quickly to take care of the putties. Alex's skills were certainly better after all the training and time they'd spent fighting, but she was not the best. The putties soon overwhelmed her and trapped her in their arms, shuffling her toward the monster.

Zach was trying to fight his way toward her, but the putties seemed to be deliberately working to keep him away. He was about to morph, when there was a bright flash. Suddenly, all the putties were gone, along with the monster. Alex was lying on the grass, but she seemed to be moving, so he hurried over to see if she was alright. "Are you alright?"

Alex blinked as Zach helped her sit up. "I feel fine," she replied. "What was that?"

"I don't know. Let's get you back to Zordon and let Alpha run some scans. Alex nodded slowly, and the two of them teleported away.

Alex's mind wandered as Alpha performed his scans. What had happened in the park didn't make sense. She had been trapped in the putties' arms, no access to her Morpher, and unable to break free. Why hadn't the monster finished her right then? _"You weren't worth the time or effort."_ The voice that suddenly spoke in her head was harsh and buzzed slightly as it spoke. A beeping from Alpha's monitor shook her out of her thoughts for a moment.

"What is it?" Zach asked, concerned.

"It is as I feared," Zordon replied. "Alex has fallen victim to the sting of Rita's Doubt Wasp monster."

Just then, the other Rangers teleported into the Command Center. They'd been trapped at the school, unable to assist. Trini and Kim hurried to Alex's side, while Billy began checking the monitors and Jason looked up at Zordon to ask what was going on.

Zordon repeated his previous statement, and then began to elaborate. "The Doubt Wasp preys on the mind. It strengthens any doubts you have about yourself and amplifies them so that you will be rendered incapacitated by them."

"Well, it clearly failed," Alex said, drawing everyone's attention. "I'm fine. And I can still move and stuff." She hopped off the examination table to demonstrate her point. "And I need to go do my homework. After all, we can't be saving the world all the time." Before anyone could stop her, she pressed the button on her communicator and teleported away.

Alex took her homework to the park to avoid the others. She managed to get through most of it before she was interrupted again. The sound of the putties was distinctive, and she immediately stood to confront them. They were gathered a little way away, harassing some kids on a playground. Alex began to run, but was brought to a screeching halt when the buzzing voice sounded in her head again. _"You aren't strong enough to take them on! You're still recovering. No way can you hold that many off until the others arrive!"_

Alex shook herself and took off running again. Even if she got caught again, she couldn't just leave those kids to face the putties on their own! She leapt into action, attacking the putties and urging the kids to run as soon as they were clear.

Her martial arts skills were still not the best. It didn't take long before the putties began to overpower her. She reached for her morpher, wondering as she did so where the others were. Before her fingers could close around the device, the buzzing returned, _"You don't deserve to use that. Tommy should be the one here, not you. How dare you presume to use his power?"_

It was in that moment that Alex realized what was going on. Zordon had been right. The voice she was hearing belonged to the Doubt Wasp. Hearing it from an outside source, not from one of her friends, made her realize how stupid she was being. Tommy had willingly given her his powers. He'd been happy that she could be a ranger now that he couldn't. Just because he was having a difficult time being sidelined, didn't mean she didn't deserve this. She'd worked hard to get to this point. She'd trained and pressed on, determined to prove that she could be of use. She wasn't going to let this overgrown bug take her down.

Alex kicked a putty away from her and turned, scanning around to find the Wasp. And there it was; dancing around like it had already won. She broke away from the crowd of putties and ran toward it. "I think I've had just about enough of you!" she shouted as soon as she was in range.

"I think it's too late for that, little girl!" the Wasp replied. "You can't even morph. You have no hope of defeating me now! You're just a pathetic little girl, hoping someone will come to rescue you."

Alex smirked. "Your strategy needs work, Bug Brain." She reached back and grabbed her morpher. She'd seen the others morph enough times to know how to do it. "It's Morphin' Time!"

Jason and the other Rangers had just arrived when they heard Alex shout the iconic phrase. The light from their transport had barely faded before they were almost blinded by a bright orange flash as Alex shouted, "Dragonzord!"

When the light faded, they couldn't do anything other than stare for a few moments. Alex's suit was designed similarly to their own in that it consisted of a snug jumpsuit tucked into boots and gloves with a helmet and decorated with large diamonds across the chest. The main color of her suit was a beautiful, pumpkin orange, and the helmet looked almost exactly like Tommy's had. She also had Tommy's golden shield over her shoulders. However, the similarities ended there.

Where the other rangers all had white accents, Alex had gold. The diamonds across her chest were bordered in black, but mostly glittered a brilliant gold. Her boots and gloves were black with bands of gold and orange diamonds around the tops. Her helmet was a total work of art. While the visor and mouth resembled Tommy's dragon helmet, there was far more detail in Alex's. A gold pattern covered the orange helmet like scales. Just the edges were represented, but it was effective. The eyes that had been red on Tommy's helmet were now the deepest black and more pronounced.

The five other rangers ran up to gather around Alex and pat her shoulders and exclaim over her suit. It didn't last long before the Doubt Wasp demanded their attention again. Jason and Alex worked together to battle the Wasp while the others finished off the putties. Alex certainly had more power now, but her skills still weren't the best. Even so, she was good at following the subtle guidance of the Morphin Grid to summon a beautiful dragon staff to add to the Power Blaster when they were all able to turn their focus to the Wasp. The monster exploded in one giant blast, the flames from Alex's staff twisting around the main shots from their blaster to strengthen it and destroy the monster before it had a chance to grow.

The rangers transported back to the Command Center still morphed so they could talk to Zordon. Alex's dark hair cascaded down her shoulders once she'd taken her helmet off, and Trini and Kim stood on either side of her, complimenting the costume.

"Well done, Alex," Zordon said, smiling down at them all. "I'm very impressed with how you shook off the Doubt Wasp's influence."

"It made the mistake of trying to shame me for taking Tommy's power," Alex explained, running her fingers gently over the scales of her helmet. "But hearing it from someone other than myself made me realize how stupid I was to think that. Tommy _gave_ me his power willingly. To not use it would disgrace him. I don't want him coming back to find that I'd wasted his gift."

Jason squeezed her shoulder. "He'll be proud to hear what you did today, Alex. He always believed in you." Alex nodded in agreement.

Zach was the one to break the solemn atmosphere, "Anyone hungry?"

They all laughed, "I could eat!" Alex agreed happily. And it was true. For the first time in a long time, she actually felt hungry. She smiled even bigger at the thought. Things were definitely getting better.


End file.
